I was hosted by my dear friend and collaborator, Professor Patrizia Daniele, who is also a Center Associate of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks at the Isenberg School of Management that I direct. The talk was advertised in the University of Catania newspaper and even though it was the last day of the semester the huge room was almost filled.

We had some added excitement since there was an electric power outage before my presentation but then power was restored just in time.

The audience consisted of undergrads, some of whom were in Professor Daniele's course on Networks and Supernetworks, Master's and Doctoral students, faculty from many departments, and the Chair of Patrizia's Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Professor Giuseppe Mulone.

After my lecture I had a big surprise! Professor Mulone presented me with a stunning book about the University, which is the oldest one in Sicily, having been founded in 1434 before Columbus even set sail for America! He also presented me with the University of Catania Medal from the Rector in recognition of my research and my collaborations and support of their Operations Researchers. What a wonderful honor!

Then it was time for lunch and Professor Daniele's husband drove us to a seaside fish restaurant with an amazing view where the variety of food included octopus, squid, shrimp, and many different fishes caught in the Mediterranean that morning!

About Me

is the John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College at Oxford University for the 2016 Trinity term.
She was a Visiting Professor at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden for 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Her latest book, co-edited with I. Kotsireas and P.M. Pardalos is: Dynamics of Disasters: Key Concepts, Models, Algorithms, and Insights, published by Springer in 2016. She is also the co-author of the book: Competing on Supply Chain Quality: A Network Economics Perspective, with D. Li, and published in 2016.
She is the author of the book: Networks Against Time: Supply Chain Network Analytics for Perishable Products, co-authored with M. Yu, A.H. Masoumi, and L.S. Nagurney.
She is also the author, with Q. Qiang, of the book: Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain World, and several other books.
She is the Founding Director of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks.